Two times two
Saturday could have gone down as a perfect day in the entertainment chronicle of the city of Cologne, which has never been at a loss for superlatives. Gamescom delighted men between the ages of 12 and 75, Helene Fischer’s brilliant concert delighted visitors of all ages, and the City Festival delighted intellectuals. Most of the locals were still upset because 1. FC Köln lost 2-1 to Wolfsburg. The reasons were quickly identified: the crater-sized gaps in Cologne’s central defense and Davie Selke’s renewed injury. “At some point it gets on your balls,” said Steffen Baumgart when his striker was substituted for the third time in the third competitive game because of thigh problems – the coach can’t teach strikers so quickly how they get injured. Doubly annoying for FC: Wolfsburg’s Jonas Wind, 23, showed why strikers are so important. He initially missed a few chances, but like last week he became man of the match. The Dane is on a roll. He has already scored four goals – and knows how many are still missing before Lewandowski’s record. Milan Pavlovic
Open detailed view (Photo: Sven Sonntag/imago)
Rupture Trigger
Stuttgart captain Waldemar Anton did not want to blame his colleagues in goal, but when asked about the minutes in which VfB lost the game at RB Leipzig, he said: “Something happened in the team, we have to analyze it.” The collective term “something” included two goalkeeping mistakes by Alexander Nübel at 1: 5 (1: 0), who first wanted to keep a ball in play instead of bolting it away, but shot the approaching Henrichs from Leipzig, which after Stuttgart’s break lead to a curious 1: 1 led. Shortly thereafter, Nübel slipped a cross, whereupon the 1: 2 did not (yet) fall because RB striker Openda was offside. These two actions symbolized the break in the game of VfB, which was then clearly inferior, although Nübel could also be credited with a few saves that prevented a higher result. Stuttgart’s new goalkeeper analyzed self-critically that he had felt that his mistake had “unsettled” his colleagues. Nübel’s conclusion was representative of the whole of VfB: “Brutal game, brutal evening.” Felix Hasselsteiner
Open detailed view (Photo: Tom Weller/dpa)
Old-New Siegtor
Substitute goalkeeper Florian Müller hasn’t played a minute for SC Freiburg this season, but the Freiburgers know that if the worst comes to the worst, they don’t have to worry. Why? Because Müller has been to Freiburg before, before leaving Freiburg to return to Freiburg this summer. Müller is therefore an “old-new addition”, as coach Christian Streich has just said about the striker Maximilian Philipp. This Philipp scored a goal of such immense kitsch content at the weekend that Rosamunde Pilcher would be outraged and delete the goal from a script. Not only did Philipp score the winner in added time, the goal was beautiful and came against Werder Bremen, the club he had just left. So Freiburg seems to be an excellent place for old and new signings, as Matthias Ginter and Vincenzo Grifo also prove. It is not known exactly why this model works so well in Freiburg, but it could well be related to the alt-alt coach Streich. Christopher Kneer
Open detailed view (Photo: Stringer/Reuters)
Europe dreams
Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mané definitely play in the Champions League. With their new club Al-Nassr they have just qualified for the top Asian club competition, the AFC Champions League, but is that enough for the Saudi Arabians in the long run? Or are you aiming for trips to Europe’s premier class? In an interview, Carlo Nohra, head of the Saudi Pro League, cautiously hinted at what could happen in the next few years: “We’re trying to be different, so any format changes and improvements would be welcome,” said Nohra, the added that Uefa and the Saudi federation would have to hold talks. The European association recently presented such ideas as “manufacturing” through football boss Zvonimir Boban. But as we now know, Saudi Arabia’s sporting ambitions are subject to a certain tactic, which is also evident in this case: before sport, the conversation is first changed and pressure built up. Gladly at tactically favorable times – for example shortly before the draw for the European Champions League. Felix Hasselsteiner
2023-08-27 17:59:17
#Soccer #easier #play #striker
